Tackling the culinary and grammatical arts in simultaneous mouthfuls.

Blog Trips

One of my dreams is to own a B&B in Dublin’s city centre. I’d cater for all manner of lovely people but I would especially want to open my doors to travelling bands and musicians who usually have to put up with generic hotels and terrible food when on the road. I’d have great food […]

This year’s Christmas season kicked off even earlier than usual for me as I co-hosted the Folláin Christmas Masterclass on the 22nd of November. I was delighted to have been asked to act as an interviewer/student while Mairin and Peadar O’Lionáird shared with a gathered group of preserve enthusiasts at Andrew Rudd’s Medley on Drury […]

“Enjoy yourself in your spiritual home this weekend,” read the text from my friend Alan, received while I was on the early train to Dingle last Friday morning. “Hmmm,” I thought. “Spiritual home? I wonder why he thinks that.” Cue a series of memories of the last few years spent in the Kerry town, made […]

Sometimes life as a food explorer can be rather magical. I’ve talked before of how one of the (many) unexpected side affects of having this food blog has been a growing appreciation and exploration of my own country. If you had told the skinny, music-loving, just-home-from-a-three-year-stint-in-London, maker-of-one-meal (pasta and pesto from a jar) 21 year […]

Cheat’s Point Break Pizza I write Movie Bites for The Ticket in Friday’s Irish Times, sharing recipes inspired by classic films. Oisin Davis writes Booking The Cooks, where he interviews bands and artists about their favourite foods. Le Galaxie are electro-bop future-space party-enablers. We love food, we’re very fond of a great movie, and we all adore […]

I’ve remarked before that one of the wonderfully unexpected side effects of having this food blog has been a growing sense of nationalistic food pride. I’ve had the good fortune of being able to travel around the country in search of some of the tastiest morsels being produced by passionate producers the country over. The […]

Bounty, one of my newly acquired Barna buddies. “Wow. This is a pretty small town. The Twelve Hotel pretty much takes over half of it.” So was myself and Niall’s observation upon our arrival in Barna (or Bearna as it’s known to Gaelgoirs) last Friday. And I hope no one takes offence to that. We […]

There’s an amazing scene in Chris Morris and Charlie Brooker’s TV show Nathan Barley when Dan Ashcroft is asked what are his Top Five Supermarket Wines in an excruciating job interview. His clutching-at-straws-answer is “French… Italian… Spanish… um… Dutch… Southern French…” When people ask me what are my favourite wines, my own answer is not totally dissimilar to […]

Locally smoked kippers with poached eggs at Inchydoney Lodge & Spa “I’m going down to Indochiney this weekend.” “What?! Where?!” “Indochiney. You know, in Cork.” “Inchy-DON-ey, Aoife, you lunatic.” So went a conversation with a friend a fortnight ago. She was right. I did mean Inchydoney. I had been invited down for a complimentary stay […]

Is there any better food, particularly on a fragile Sunday, than Guilty Pleasures food? The Beatyard & Toejam presents The Eatyard at The Bernard Shaw, which will be a four day food gathering at the Portobello pub from this Thursday the 27th right through til Sunday the 30th, coinciding with the wider weekender of The […]